I love my iPhone.
It was our very first married purchase after our honeymoon 2 short years ago. I'm still rocking the 3G without the addition of Siri or the extra camera in front. Stuck in the stone ages, I know. Regardless, the iPhone opened up a new world of convenience for me and I couldn't imagine going back to a regular old flip phone. Although I admit, I'm waitingggg for our update coming soon so I can get a new one with all new flashy buttons and gadgets. This girl embraces technology.
As someone who works in healthcare, the apps available for smart phones fascinate me.
Now, consumers can find an app for anything they're interested in. And if there's not an app for it, they can access the internet via smartphone and find out information that way. That's really amazing when you think about it... especially when you compare technology now to the old computers that you used in the 1st grade during computer lab time. Remember those??
There are over 500,000 apps that you can buy or get for free in the app store. But don't waste all your gigs of memory downloading every one... I want to share some of my top rated nutrition apps that provide great, reliable information. They are in no particular order of importance because they're all really good!
Best part? All of these apps are 100% FREE. Take a look!
(1) Locavore
Like to eat local? Not sure what is in season? You'll love this app. Locavore is an app developed to help you local-lovers find local food. Simple. Most people would say that they would love to eat local, but aren't sure what is available to them. Now, you can find what's in season, where to get it, and directions to the market OR farm. Support local farmers and get this app!
The GPS function enables you to find the markets and farms closest to you. In the home page, you can view this neat little list that tells you what is currently in season in your area. If you like to go to farmers markets, you can get a preview into the things you'll be seeing at the market by perusing this list. Pretty useful info, if you ask me! I use this function to figure out what produce will be the freshest in the grocery store, too.
You can navigate local produce in your area, get directions to the market or farm, and share with others what you're eating on facebook and twitter. They have their own social network on the app... "I Ate Local." You can upload a picture and tag your location. The app includes local dairy farms, meat, and other products.
(2) GoodGuide
The GoodGuide app (and website) help consumers to buy products that are healthy, safe, and environmentally-friendly. They review food, clothing, appliances, cars, cell phones, diapers, paper products, shampoo, pet food... and the list goes on! This app won the seal of approval of the Surgeon General Regina Benjamin for it's reliability and ease of use.
You can use the barcode scanner while shopping to scan a product and look at it's rating. You can set your own criteria for a product as well and there will be an alert if that product does not meet your personal criteria. My favorite feature is the alternative selections... if you scan or search a product that has a low rating, it will list out similar products with much higher ratings. It takes all the guess work out of shopping! My only complaint with this app... it is a little difficult to really dig into the rating on the mobile version of their app. The website is much more extensive.
If a product has a low rating, you can see exactly why. It might not always be that a product is both "healthy" and "responsible" in terms of their business operations. A word about the reliability of this little app... so far, I haven't found any indicators that GoodGuide contains unfair bias or conducts it's research using sketchy resources. They use information that comes directly from the company.
However, if a company will not disclose their information it will negatively affect their rating. I see this as a flaw in their rating system, but I suspect that more companies will desire to have a good rating and will become more transparent. Maybe a lack of transparency reveals that there are some shady things going on... hmmmm...
(3) Healthy Grocery Recommendations
This is probably my *favorite* app of the five. Probably because Registered Dietitians helped to design it.This app is like having your own personal RD in your pocket. It works a lot like the GodGuide app, except it focuses primarily on the health and nutritional quality of the product. You set up an account with your age/gender and can select additional filters for general health, fitness, weight loss, disease management, and food allergies to take into account.
You can customize the app by choosing different things that are most important to you, like specific vitamins or foods that are low in cholesterol or preservatives. You can scan the barcode of packaged foods to see instantly if that food meets your specific criteria.
Each food has a rating out of 100 points. Click on the rating for a detailed description of their findings. There's an alternative selection component too, so you can instantly find a similar product with a higher nutritional rating. Pretty awesome and easy.
My favorite part about this app is the Nutrition and Ingredients tab. You will find that they have highlighted the things you need in green and the things to look out for in yellow. I love this because it teaches you how to read a label!
And if you are often stumped when you look at a label... trust me, you're one of MANY!
I have realized that so many people just do not know how to read a label. They would love to learn but manufacturers are often so tricky... there are a million different ways to sneak sugar into a product without making it obvious. This app helps you to better understand labels, and help you to choose foods that fit your dietary needs. If I had to give any of these apps a gold star, it would be this one!
(4) Whole Foods Recipes
The Whole Foods Recipes app is AMAZING. I use it at least once or twice every week when I'm planning out what to cook. This app contains a large database of unique and tasty recipes. You don't have to get your ingredients from WF... let's be honest, I can't really afford that. But this app really does it for me. Take a look...
First thing I love about it? The custom search function based on your dietary needs. They even label each recipe if it is "Gluten-free" or "Low-sodium" or "Low-fat" or "Vegan," etc. For those who have a gluten allergy, it's often really hard to find a good resource for recipes that's quick. And you Vegans out there are often wondering what new thing you can cook to diversify your all veggie meals. Meet your new best friend.
If I needed to convince you further of the awesomeness of this app... then let me blow your mind real quick. My favorite part about this app is the "On-hand" search engine. Let's say you cooked tacos two nights ago and now you have a whole bunch of cilantro that's going to go bad if you don't use it. And you have some other random odds & ends... what are you going to cook? Just type in what you have in this app and it will suggest recipes based on those ingredients. It. Is. Just. Too. Good. Say buh-bye to the rotten produce sitting in the bottom of your fridge.(5) Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal
For those of you who are trying to lose weight or maintain, the app from MyFitnessPal is for you. Many of you have probably already seen this website or used it. You can create a free account, customize your health goals, and you will receive an estimated calorie requirement. Then you can keep a daily record of everything you eat and your physical activity. ***The estimated calorie requirement may or may not be accurate to your needs. If you are really interested in learning your daily calorie needs, please contact an RD! We know how to accurately measure this.***
As you record the foods you eat, the app will tell you how many more calories, protein, carbs, and fat you need. You can add your daily physical activity to see how much you're burning in the day. The app is synch'ed to the website, and you can download and print reports from there. This is an excellent tool to help you lose weight. I always tell my weight loss clients that keeping a food record is one of the best methods of accountability in losing or maintaining weight. If you are completely honest when you record, you will notice eating habits or patterns to work on to help you reach your goals. For those type A list-making people out there, this app is a fun way to keep track of your eating habits. My only complaint: it takes time. More time than many are willing to give, and most will stop doing it after a week. However... hear me out, if you are trying to lose weight, it is critical that you learn to keep a food journal! It helps a lot!
What food and fitness apps do you use? I'm interested to hear! This is in no way an exhaustive list of ALL the great apps out there... after all, there are literally 500,000 of them. Later in the month, I will be posting the five must-have fitness apps so look out for it!
